The Pledge of Friendship
by MJshunpike
Summary: REWRITTEN:: Lily and the Marauders show their deep friendship as they spend an entire night after graduation chatting about memories and such.
1. The Pledge

Disclaimer: All characters and HP stuff goes to JK Rowling/Warner Brothers.

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**The Pledge of Friendship**

Amidst a graduate-compact Gryffindor Common Room, a group of five seventh years could be seen. One couch was charmed into a circle, stretched long enough to fit all five. A tall, dark-haired boy with a hearty laugh was sitting beside a shorter, smarter, brown-haired one. A red headed intelligent girl sat across a semi-arrogant boy with messy black hair. Sitting beside him, was a short, plump, people-pleasing boy who would never seem to be a part of the group. But he was, and they were all dubbed: The Marauders.

An unofficial member had just been added, and her name was Lily Evans, the red-headed girl. The Marauders embraced her with open arms, and they knew they would all be friends to the end.

The Marauders had one night left before the Graduation Seminary, which would be their last hours at Hogwarts. This night, however, was strictly reserved for having fun.

"Feels nice," commented James Potter. "Just lazing about on a school day."

The Marauders nodded.

"Well," said Lily quietly, so not all the Seventh Years would hear. "If this is going to be our last Marauder-true night at Hogwarts, let's make something out of it! C'mon, party at your dorm!"

The Boys' Dorm became a common hideout, seeing as Lily could go in without getting zapped and they weren't going to chat about secret passageways and such around their whole grade in the Common Room.

Lily and the boys raced to their dorm. With much pushing, pulling, tripping, and tackling, they finally reached the top of the stairs, and it was Lily who got through the door first. She didn't win because the boys treated her like a girly girl, but because she was small and quick, and could dodge big attacks.

"Ha! I win! I win!" shouted Lily happily. "Now we get to do whatever I want."

"_Get_ to do?" said Sirius, as James shook his head in shame. "You mean _have_ to do."

Peter finally arrived, sweaty and panting, and collapsed on his bed.

"It'll be rich all the same," said Lily. "Hmm… let's see, er – I know! Let's play confessions!"

Peter raised an eyebrow, Sirius groaned, Remus laughed, and James' eyes widened, so you could almost see all the white in them. There were no lies in this game; the Marauders never lied to each other anymore. They had lied to Lily about their being Animagi and Werewolf, but once she was a Marauder, they told her everything. The only confessions they had to make were the truths they had "omitted".

"Oh, c'mon," said Lily. "Who'll go first?"

No one answered. But that didn't bother Lily, she knew exactly how to get them on their toes.

"Well, I guess that's alright. If you're going to be such pansies, I'll go."

"What in Merlin's name–?"

"Is that what you think of us–?"

"Totally undeserved–"

"Well, then," said Lily with a slightly evil grin on her face. "Prove it! Go ahead; confess your most inner secrets."

"But _why_?" asked Sirius.

"Because it's our last year and if you don't say it now, you'll forget, then we'll never know the truth."

"_Fine,_" said Peter, who was quickly thinking up a confession that wouldn't be too bad. After all, they only had to say one. Remus, too, was trying to think up a confession. It was much harder for him, because he was such an honest person.

"I'll go," announced Sirius. "Okay. So, Prongs, remember that one time when we raced each other on our Nimbus 1001s? And you found out your broom had been permanently hexed so it couldn't fly over 20 miles per hour… well, er–"

"Are you saying that you… _you_ hexed it? You _lied_ to me? You said it wasn't you! You said Peter did it!"

"No worries, Peter," Sirius apologized. "And I did _not_ lie. Who do you think I am, a divination teacher? And I didn't say it wasn't me. All that I said was that if someone had hexed _my_ broom, I _would_ have suspected Peter. After you, of course."

"I still can't believe you did that!" shouted James, who didn't have the longest temper.

"Look on the bright side, mate," said Sirius hopefully. "You got the Nimbus 1500 after that."

James considered this for a moment.

"360 degree turning," added Sirius. "100 miles-per-hour, don't tell you me didn't want that. And your dad wouldn't have gotten you that if your broom hadn't been ravaged."

"True, true," James agreed with a smile.

"Actually," Sirius muttered to Lily. "He probably would have."

"What was that?" asked James.

"I'll go next," interrupted Peter. "I just want to get this over with."

"It better be juicy," threatened Lily jokingly.

"This one's you, Remus."

Remus didn't show the slightest sign of shock. He had caught Peter doing many things, but never told him off, being the kind-hearted ferocious-hairy-beast-once-a-month that he was.

"Well, in our fourth year, we had to do that huge essay for Potions." Remus nodded his head, he remembered. "Well, I kind of, took yours,"

Remus faked a disapproving expression.

"Iwasgoingtocopyit," said Peter really fast. "And I was going to give it back to you. But, I lost the copy I was going to give you, and I thought that you'd remember it well enough to write out again. And it was due that day, so I kept it."

"You thick dolt, Wormtail!" said Sirius. "Why didn't you just duplicate your copy again?"

"Uhh… because uh…" Peter thought. It looked really hard. "Erm… well…"

"Nevermind," interrupted Sirius. "By the time you figure it out, Voldemort will have killed us all."

"That's no laughing matter." said Lily and Remus simultaneously.

"Alright, alright," said Sirius. "Hold your Hippogriffs. _Anyhoo_, I think Lils should go next."

"Oh, fair enough," caved Lily. "Well, er – there was this one time in sixth year when I got sick of your pranks,"

The boys were bewildered. They would never have thought that Lily had done wrong against _them_. They guessed she wasn't as little-miss-perfectish as they thought.

"And you were really bugging me," she continued. "And, well, I really wanted to get you back, but I thought you'd prankfest me if you knew it was me. I also knew that the Slytherins had just defied you, and you were so upset because your pride had been challenged. I knew that you'd be on the look-out for Slytherins 24/7."

"Which prank did you do…?" asked Sirius with a frightened smile. He could hardly be embarrassed by pranks, but these circumstances were with a girl.

"I," said Lily, a bit frightfully. "I did the tighties."

"WHAT!" shouted all the boys at the same time. Lily hid under James' bed's covers to hide her red face from an angry mob of boys.

The "tighties" was a now-famous prank. The Marauders had all suspected the Slytherins right away. When entering the Great Hall for a late breakfast, the Marauders saw all faces turned toward them, as usual. But this time, they were laughing and pointing, or covering their mouths. A sign had been charmed to float right above the four House Tables, pointing up and shouting "The Marauders' Knickers". Looking up, the Marauders gasped furiously as they say a charmed line of tightey-whiteys, some huge, some puny, some with "marks", some yellowing, and some that said "I love Moaning Myrtle". They weren't, of course, their real underpants, but the rest of the school didn't know that. Remus and Peter were horrifyingly embarrassed, James hexed the Slytherins continuously until he was thrown in detention twice, and Sirius laughed as he changed the sign to "Snivelly's Panties", and displayed some wrinkled greying ones. Not in their entire lives had they ever suspected Lily. It did, after all, seem like their private stuff.

"Do you have ANY idea how embarrassing that was?" said James, Remus and Peter in unison.

"I thought it was HILARIOUS!" Sirius laughed madly.

"Well, sor_ry_ you don't care that other people laugh at you!" said James furiously.

"You really have to lose your ego, Prongs." said Sirius.

"You're the one to talk!" James shouted.

"Take THAT!" Sirius threw a pillow at him. As quick as a flash, the entire room was filled with feathers, laughs, and distorted pillows, which lasted for a few minutes, before–

"Wait," said Lily, but she got a pillow to her head anyway. "**WAIT!**"

The dorm became as silent as a graveyard.

"Moony and Prongs haven't gone yet."

Sirius and Peter looked around at the two boys.

"Merlin," said James. "Do you _always_ have to spoil our fun? Let's just keep on having a pillow fight…"

"Nuh-uh," said Peter. "I did not confess for no reason."

"Some confession, stolen homework," said Remus. "It's not like I didn't know anyway."

"You knew?" asked Peter.

"You've stolen homework more than once from me, Wormtail."

Peter's ears flushed scarlet.

"Anyway," said Remus. "I can't think of any. So you can go ahead, James."

"What?" they all said.

"That's not fair, Moony," said Sirius.

"I don't know, guys," said Lily, a sly glint in her eye. "I don't think I've ever seen Remus do anything bad. You know, being the 'Mr Perfect', that he is. Remus hasn't done _anything _wrong. It's like he isn't really a true Marauder."

"NOW YOU WAIT JUST A MINUTE, MISSY!" shouted Remus. "I've done PLENTY of bad things in my life. Don't go accusing me of NOT being a Marauder."

"Whoah!" said Lily. "You really gotta 'hold your hippogriffs', Remus."

The group laughed hard; it was such a joyful scene it could cheer up the Bloody Baron. Well, not quite.

"No, really guys," Remus calmed down. "I honestly can't think of anything."

"Fine," pouted Sirius. "But you're not backing out, Prongs. I know secrets that you know, obviously, but you don't know that I know them. Then again, I don't really know that you don't know that I know."

"Okay…," said James. "Well, I guess I'll go then. So, Sirius, I was the one who turned your hair green."

"That's IT?" shouted Sirius. "I already knew that, Moony told me. Plus, you need to say something way juicier than that. Something, perhaps, to do with a certain Lily Evans?"

"What?" said Lily, as James silently tried to gesture to Sirius to shut up. "Now, Pwongsie, have you got someding to tell me? Huh?"

"Er…," James went as red as Lily's hair. "No, not really."

"Oh, c'mon, Jamsie," said Remus, smiling. "Don't be such a pantywaist."

"I'm not a pantywaist!" James mouth opened in mock horror. "FINE! I guess you won't let me rest until I say it. LILY, I SLEEP WITH YOUR PICTURE UNDER MY BED!"

James wished he hadn't said it so loud, he seemed to hear his voice echo all the way down to the Slytherin Dungeons. He wished he could burry himself under his covers, but the redhead was already there.

Lily wiped off James' covers, threw off the pillow, undid his sheets, and took out a moving photograph of her in first year, at King's Cross, looking as scared as a mouse in the paw of a cat. James thought she would tease him for the rest of his life. But he was wrong.

"MERLIN, JAMES!" shouted Lily, but she was not teasing him, she was shouting at him, and James thought this a lot better. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO AND KEEP THE MOST EMBARRASING PHOTOGRAPH OF ME?"

James thought himself very lucky. Now Lily was the one to be embarrassed, not him. But he didn't think she had anything to be embarrassed about. Sirius snatched the picture away from Lily.

"Aww," he said. "But you look so cute when you're scared."

"Oh, shut up, Mr Tighties," she said, and it did shut him up, but not without a pillow in the face.

And once again, a pillow fight erupted. The night would last much longer than the Marauders thought.

"Hey guys," Remus started. He was standing on a bed, pillow in hand, staring in space. It wasn't long before four pillows greeted him in his face, in his stomach, and right in the…

"MARAUDERS!" Remus bellowed. Peter and Lily stopped, but James and Sirius were still going at each other.

"What is it Remus?" Lily asked. "If you say something that they have to think about, I reckon they'll stop and spend a great deal of time doing it."

Remus and Peter laughed, so Sirius and James stopped to see what was so funny.

"What was your most exciting moment?" asked Remus.

"THIS!" said Sirius.

"No," continued Remus. "Your MOST exciting moment. Like, of _all_ time?"

"What, is this like a Harry Swinger (A/N: sorry, I couldn't resist) talk show, or something?" asked James.

"Well of course," responded Sirius matter-of-factly. "Didn't you know, Prongs? We think you should name your son Harry."

"We should have a bet," suggested Peter. "How long James and Sirius can last without going off-topic."

"I would take that bet!" said Remus.

"And so would I!" agreed Lily.

"Fine then," said Sirius. "Go against the tall guys, what the heck, we're easy targets."

"Sirius," said Remus. "Dare I ask you again what your most exciting moment was?"

"Well, if you're daring me," said Sirius. "I'll think long and hard–"

"That could take a while." said Peter.

"Ahem," said Sirius. "I believe I was talking. I'd have to say, pranking the Slytherins on our first train ride."

"SCORE!" shouted James and he gave Sirius a high-five.

"That early?" Lily stated more than asked.

"I reckon you can think of something more exciting than that." said Remus.

"I guess there was becoming an Animagus," suggested Sirius. "But – OH! Definitely, it would be moving out from that old, stinking, pureblood, prideful, conceited House of Black! And the fact that I was going to James' house was kind of a plus, I guess."

"Well," thought Peter, before James could shoot back. "Mine would have to be our first Grand Feast."

"Merlin, that pudding was good," agreed Sirius. Although Peter's appetite showed, Sirius' high metabolism and hyper-activity kept him from fattening up. But it was still a miracle, considering he would regularly eat twice as much as Peter, who ate three times as much as Remus.

"And that juice," added James, always looking for sugar.

"And that watermelon," continued Lily.

"And that _steak_," said Remus, as everyone eyed him suspiciously. "What, I can't help it!"

"What was yours, Lily?" asked James.

"Oh, it would definitely have to be: becoming Head Girl." she said.

No one spoke, for it was quite expected of Lily to say that. But when it went dead silent, Sirius couldn't handle it, so he whispered loudly behind his hand:

"It's because Prongsie was Head Boy."

"Not true!" protested Lily through the others' laughs. James was the only one who didn't join in.

"Well what about yours, _James_?" asked Lily, in an _I-can-get-you-back_ tone of voice.

"Well, er–" The truth was that James was going to say becoming Head Boy, because he had known Lily was Head Girl. However, seeing the others' reactions to Lily's, he decided not to. Instead, he said limply, "Being a stag for the first time."

While Lily tried to imagine what it would be like, Sirius and Remus snickered.

"What?" asked James, which sent the two bursting with laughter.

"All three of us know that you were dancing around and hugging strangers when you found out Lily was Head Girl." stated Remus.

"Remember, mate," added Sirius. "We were _there_."

James flushed more red than he had ever before in his entire life, and wished the Giant Squid would just swallow him up right now. Although Sirius, Peter and Lily were quite enjoying James' embarrassment, Remus knew when it was too much, so he changed the spotlight over to himself.

"Well my most exciting moment," he announced loudly, so everyone would stop staring at James. "Was getting into Hogwarts."

"What?" asked Lily. Obviously, she was the only one who hadn't heard the whole story.

"I'm a werewolf, in case you didn't know."

"So?"

"Werewolves are very accepted in the today's wizarding society," he explained. "I didn't expect to get into Hogwarts at all. I head Dumbledore was a good wizard, all right, but a werewolf's life isn't all rainbows and butterflies. I didn't know if even a great man like Dumbledore would let me in. Then I got my Hogwarts letter–"

He broke off. Lily stared at Remus in awe and understanding, but the boys were too "masculine" to deal with such sensitive issues.

"What about your scariest moment?" asked Peter, excited.

"True Marauders never fear," said Sirius, as the rest snorted. "What!"

"Yeah sure, like you've never been afraid of your mum." said James.

"Oh, well, other than her.

"My scariest moment was being told I was a witch." said Lily. Everyone looked at her, completely shocked. She seemed to understand that she needed to explain herself, because then she said:

"Hey! All I ever heard of witches were in fairy tales!"

"So?"

"Well have any of you ever read any fairy tales?"

"What do you think we are? Girls? Look what kind of family I was brought up in!" said Sirius.

"You've got a point there," agreed Lily. "But in fairy tales there are sometimes witches, and they are horrifying."

"What?"

"Yeah, and they're _hideously_ ugly," she added. "When I was eleven, I thought witches were old and warty with green skin, a long crooked nose, who brewed eyeball potions all day."

"Hmm," said James. "Sounds an awful lot like Snape's future wife."

Hoards of laughter.

"What about you, Moony?"

"Getting into Hogwarts." he repeated.

"What? It's your scariest _and_ excitingest!" asked Peter.

"Excitingest?" said Remus. "_Really_, Wormtail…"

"Just get on with it, Remmie."

"Right well, I was really excited that I got in. But at that point, I didn't know how I was going to cope with my transformations and all, so I was really scared that everyone was going to – oh I dunno – watch me while it happened, or something."

The Marauders roared with laughter.

"Well what about yours, Wormtail?" asked Remus, really annoyed. "Did you wet your tighties?"

"No," Peter said, trying to be convincing. "It was taking the NEWTs."

"Ahh…" said James. "NEWTs frighten all."

"Really?" asked Sirius. "I had a newt once, but he wasn't very scary. I think he was sacry to that one first-year girl, though. I threw him in her hair on our first train ride."

"That was _me_, Sirius." explained Lily, almost fuming.

"Oh, sorry, Lils," said Sirius. "Wait! I shouldn't be apologizing! _You _threw my pet out the window!"

"Oh, you deserved it." said Lily.

"But Spot did nothing wrong!"

"Spot?"

"Newts have spots!"

More laughter.

"Well," said James, trying to get some attention. "_My_ scariest moment was seeing Filch's face."

"Malfoy's face!"

"Narcissa's face!"

"Snape's face…"

"AWH, REMUS!" Sirius yelled in disgust.

"Did you have to mention that – that thing!" roared James, equally revolted.

"Life just isn't fair," said Sirius. "Having the Slytherins around and all."

"Well," said Remus, thinking Sirius didn't have the slightest clue of what 'unfair' meant.

"It's not like being a werewolf is jolly good fun."

"It's not our fault you went off kissing girls when you were eight." added James.

"_What!_" Lily had never heard Remus of being any less than perfectly respectable before.

"It's not how it seems," explained Remus. "There was _a_ kiss involved in my bite, but it's not like I was off snogging a town full of girls or anything."

"So how _did_ the story go, Remus?" she asked.

"No, I don't really want to–"

"Oh, please?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, Remsie. Pweece?" said Peter in a mocking voice.

"Shut up _Wormtail_," she snapped. "Please, Moony."

"Fine, but it's going to be long," Remus said. "I had been best friends with Tabitha ever since I can remember. We had a lot in common, not including both being half-bloods. You could say that we were as inseparable as Sirius and James.

"One night, we went out to play on the swing sets. The air was getting colder, we were getting tired. The sun fell, and we just stared at each other. I felt the warmest feeling inside of me, when the moon shone, and then she leaned forward and kissed me–"

"The sly old dog!" interrupted Sirius. Lily gave him a warning glare.

"It was then when we heard the growling," continued Remus, as Lily cupped her hands to her mouth. "At first we thought it was a dog, but when it stepped out of the shadows, we could plainly see it was a wolf. Staring at the full moon, the two of us silently agreed it was a werewolf, and Tabby ran for it–"

"What an idiot, eh?" said James.

"If any of you interrupt one more time I will turn you all to frogspawn," Lily sneered. "What happened next?"

"The werewolf, attracted to movement, dashed for her. He was still a ways away, so I ran with hope. When I reached her, I grabbed her behind me, and she grasped onto me. I remember feeling her ice-cold fingertips burning on my waist, so full of fear.

"And then we heard a pop, and a Hit-Wizard apparated in front of us. Wand in hand, he raised it above his head and was ready to cast a spell, when I left Tabitha and ran in front of the werewolf.

"'What are you doing?' he yelled at me as I flew right past him. My arms outstretched, I blocked the werewolf as much as I could, but it was nearly three times my size. I saw the Hit-Wizard's fear in his eyes, the fear that I should have had. But something inside me knew it was going to be alright.

"The wizard was not the only one who was dumbfounded by my actions. The werewolf, never having felt love as a monster before, stared at me through shocked, not hungry, eyes. Werewolves may not remember who they are in the moonlight, but they can still recognize love, when they are given the chance."

"But why," asked Lily. "Why did you save him so selflessly?"

Sirius snickered.

"The Hit-Wizard seemed to think the same question. He said, 'Move out of the way, stupid boy'. I replied, 'No. He is only a werewolf on a full moon. He is more human than not, and humans are protected by human rights.' 'He is dangerous,' he told me. 'We cannot risk his actions. Now, MOVE!' The jet of stunning magic streamed from his wand, and the werewolf dodged it, hiding behind me. But the light returned, and hit me straight through the chest.

"I was out cold, and Tabby later told me what happened next. She said that the werewolf grabbed my shirt and dragged me into the forest. I guess I woke up slightly, because I remember looking into the yearning eyes of the werewolf as he caught sight of my blood, accidentally spilt by his teeth. Last thing I remember, he ran off deep into the forest, howling and howling.

"I woke up at St. Mungo's a week later. Some Ministry officials came to question me about what happened. I told them the truth, and the official said it was almost the same as the Hit-Wizard's, but his opinion was that the werewolf viciously stole me into the forest and bit me with all his might.

"Of course, they believed the man, for they thought that the bite had dazed me. The Hit-Wizard also won his case for making stricter werewolf laws, which in turn, only made my life _worse_. The Ministry can't see two minutes ahead of them; they focus so much on the present."

"What about Tabitha? Is she at Hogwarts?"

"Oh sure," said Peter. "So _you_ can interrupt." Lily stuck out her tongue at him.

"Tabitha never spoke to me again after she found out I would be a werewolf. My parents were ashamed and my family moved here. I went to Hogwarts and she went to Durmstrang. I've never seen or heard from her since."

"That," said Lily, almost sobbing. "That's so – _sad_."

James and Sirius weren't about to have their last party night ruined by a sensitive story and a girl's tears. They just couldn't handle it anymore.

"Whatever you say," said James. "It's still your fault for kissing girls."

"How can you say that?" asked Lily.

"You're just jealous," said Remus in response to James. "Girls hated you so much that you couldn't kiss them if you paid them."

"Yeah, Prongs," laughed Sirius. "Remember that one time you leaned in to mack on a girl and she socked you in the nose?"

Lily could see James gesturing at Sirius to shut up.

"And, this _girl_..." she said.

"Er," James blushed. "She was no one."

"And do you regularly kiss girls who you think aren't important?" she asked.

"Hey, I was only six!"

"Thirteen," corrected Sirius. "You were thirteen."

"Shut up, Padfoot!"

"Thirteen is a perfectly responsible age to know who you are kissing!" said Lily, raising her voice.

"No it's not!" shouted James.

"Yes it is!" yelled Lily.

"NO IT'S NOT!"

"Merlin," interrupted Sirius. "You two already sound like you're married."

"SIRIUS!" James and Lily shouted in unison.

"It's only the truth!" said Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes and James sighed as Sirius pulled out two round things. They looked like candy rings.

"They're Butterbeer Rings," explained Sirius. "New at Honeydukes. Here, have 'em. For your wedding, you know."

James and Lily glared at Sirius, but they ate the candy anyway.

"So," asked Remus. "What are you going to do when you're older, Prongs? Other than marry Lily, of course?"

Lily punched him right in the gut. The Marauders stared at her in shock for a moment, until–

"GRIMMY PILE!" Sirius roared, as all four boys tackled her to the ground.

During the tackle, Remus remembered what had started it. So he stopped and asked the open question:

"No, really, you guys. What are you going to do after we leave? In case you haven't noticed, we start our lives tomorrow."

"I dunno," said Sirius, as if such adult things weren't important. 'Buy a house, a couple maybe, and do some lavish spending..."

Sirius caught Remus rolling his eyes.

"Well what else do you expect?" Sirius said. "What are you going to do?"

"Maybe, like, get a _career_!"

"How _boring_!" Sirius answered in complete disgust.

"Some of us have to work you know," said Lily. "We don't have statues of gold around our house or anything."

"I do," said James, matter-of-factly.

Lily glared at him deeply and obviously.

"Wrong thing to say, mate," Remus stated.

"Don't you think I realized that?" said James.

"HELLO!" said Lily. "I'm right here. I'm not deaf!"

"You aren't?" asked Sirius smartly. "And to think that all this time..."

"So, we were talking about jobs?" asked Remus.

"Why'd you change the subject?" asked James.

"I sensed trouble."

"Darn werewolf instincts."

"Everyone just SHUT UP!" shouted Lily. Everyone stared at her. "Merlin, you can get annoying. So, _Remus_, what career tracks are you looking at?"

"I want to be an Unspeakable, but if I'm going to be in the Order of the Phoenix, I don't know if I'll have the time, what with training and such."

"An Unspeakable?" asked Peter. "They sound pretty dodgy to me."

"Sorry to say it, Wormtail," interrupted Sirius. "But nobody's asking you."

Peter shut up at once.

"Shove your head in a chamber pot, Sirius," said Lily nastily. "Peter, we're all friends here, and you don't have to listen to Padfoot just because he's a big cocky prat."

"I think I'm going to be in the Magical Law Enforcement Squad," said Peter proudly.

"Well," said James snootily. "I'm putting _my_ priorities to the Order before _anything_ else."

"We all know," said Remus. "That is only because you could live four unemployed lifetimes with the plunder your family's got."

"It's not plunder," scoffed James. "How dare you!"

"That's right, Moony," said Sirius. "Only the Marauders have a plunder."

"We have a plunder?" asked Lily.

"Don't worry Lily. We don't actually steal." explained Remus.

"Speak for yourself," said Sirius. "Me and Pron–"

"He's joking," blushed James. "Padfoot's only joking. He's not serious."

"Why of course I am Sirius! Who do you think I am, Regulus?"

"That joke is way too old to be funny, Padfoot." said Remus.

"But who said it was a joke? I – AM – SIRIUS!"

"And," said James. "You'll be Sirius-ly dead if you don't shut up."

"Well if that's how it's going to be," sniffed Sirius. "I'll be off–"

"No, Padfoot," Lily said. "Don't go. They were only joking. They weren't seri– er, they were only joking."

"S'right, mate," apologized James.

"There wouldn't be any fun without you." smiled Remus.

"No fun at all," agreed Peter.

"I feel so – so _loved_!" cried Sirius.

"Hey," said James. "Don't push it."

Sirius had grabbed James by the collar and had his fist wound up when Remus said:

"Oy! Padfoot! Let's start up another one of those pillow fights!"

Sirius smiled, threw James to the ground and beat him with a pillow instead.

Two hours later, the Marauders were loosely scattered around the dorm, lying down in odd positions. Remus had his back against the floor and his legs resting on his bed; Peter was rolled up into a ball; Lily was sprawled on the ground in every position; James' bottom half was on his bed, with his top half hanging over the side; and Sirius was hugging a pillow into his chest, knees tucked in and arse in the air, moving it up and down as he breathed.

"Well, Marauders,' said Lily. 'It's been a fun night.'

'Let's never forget it,' said James.

'Let's make a truce here and now,' said Remus. 'An oath; a promise; a pledge. A Pledge of Friendship.'

The Marauders, seeing the nobility in the act, didn't hesitate to gather around Remus. They spat in both their hands and lay them one on top of the other in the middle of the circle they had formed, until they hand run out of hands.

It was a silent pledge. No words need be spoken. The Marauders all silently agreed then and there that they would always be friends. It was a mutual promise, which they all agreed to loyally.

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If you're the kind of person who likes corny, gushy, unoriginal, absolutely predictable, amazingly happy, hollywood-endingstories, STOP HERE. Don't read the lastsentence or the epilogue or you'll hate me. I love tragedies :)

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The Marauders all silently agreed then and there that they would always be friends. It was a mutual promise, which they all agreed to loyally.

All except one.


	2. Epilogue

Disclaimer: All characters and HP stuff goes to JK Rowling/Warner Brothers.

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**Epilogue: The Traitor**

Sirius Black was looking everywhere for Peter Pettigrew.

Although Sirius knew that he wasn't the one who had betrayed Lily and James, he felt guilt come over him – after all, it was his idea to switch the spell to Peter. And if Peter wasn't such a git, his idea would have been very successful.

Long ago, for a brief minute, Sirius had once considered Remus Lupin to be the traitor. But he quickly shook that idea out of his head. Remus was too smart to pass information to Voldemort about Lily and James' whereabouts.

Then he thought of Peter. 'Of course! Why hadn't I though of this before?' he had thought. Peter had the perfect personality to be the traitor. He was a follower, he was selfish, he would do anything for someone who would give him protection, and whatever intelligence he had wasn't put to use.

So now Sirius was off, searching for the traitor. It would be nice to gain Dumbledore's trust once again, but the real reason why he was trying to find Peter was to get revenge for Lily and James. It was what was expected of him; he was their best friend, and he'd never let Peter live it down.

At last, Sirius caught sight of the turncoat. He could see Peter's colourless hair covering his plump head. His face was red and sweaty in the shade of the dodgy muggle alley. Sirius cursed when Peter caught sight of him. The lump of a body turned the corner, and Sirius followed.

The tall dark-haired man caught Peter by his collar and shoved himagainst a building wallof a pedestrian-filled street.

"Alright, you little git, why are feeding info to Voldemort, eh? What's in it for you, Peter?" Sirius demanded.

"I d-don't understand, S-Sirius..."

"YOU KNOW PERFECTLY WELL WHAT I MEAN!

"B-but, Sirius–"

"How could you, Peter? You took the Pledge of Friendship! Did you think it was all a game?"

"J-just l-listen…"

"You swore your loyalty to the Marauders, to James and Lily!"

"The Dark Lord, S-Sirius, h-he f-forced me–"

"Oh, don't go one with your petty excuses. Your soul will be gone by the time I get you to Azkaban–"

Then Peter got a wonderfully terrible idea.

"SIRIUS, HOW COULD YOU? WE TRUSTED YOU! LILY AND JAMES TRUSTED YOU!"

Sirius figured out what Peter was up to. He pulled out his wand, but Peter was one step ahead.

**BANG!**

"PETER!" said Sirius as he saw a fat rat scramble down through the sewer grate. "COME BACK HERE," he continued, now laughing madly. "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST GET AWAY WITH THAT?"

But Sirius' crazy laugh would not continue, for muggle police sirens now filled the neighbourhood, and Hit-Wizards were dragging him away. He took a look around to see what was going on. Peter had blown away half the street, and muggles all around were scattered and injured, and killed. The Hit-Wizards led him to the Ministry of Magic.

Days later, he sat in Azkaban, taking the place of Peter -the real traitor. Sirius just couldn't understand why everyone believed it was him who betrayed Lily and James. _Him!_ Their best friend! Surely James wouldn't have believe the others. James knew that Peter's an Animagus. James would have believe every word out of his mouth. Why didn't Remus?


End file.
